1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to the field of metal working. More particularly, this invention pertains to the making of projectiles. By way of further characterization the invention will be described as it pertains to the making of tubular projectiles having a ball-actuated valve located within said projectile. By way of further characterization, the invention will describe a projectile made by metal working a stepped cylinder so as to produce an improved ball-actuated tubular projectile having a lower fabrication cost than those heretofore known. Additionally, the invention relates to a ball-actuated tubular projectile made by these processes.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Tubular projectiles have been known in the prior art since the turn of the century. However, prior art tubular projectiles have required a sabot to be either inserted within the tubular conduit of the projectile or fitted around the base end thereof so as to prevent propelling gases from escaping through the gun barrel by way of the internal conduit passing through said projectile. Although satisfactory for limited purposes, such projectiles have inadequacies in certain military applications. For example, in an aircraft having an airbreathing engine the ingestion of the sabots after separation from the projectiles often causes premature and deleterious engine failure. Additionally, in land based weaponry the separation of the sabot frequently impacts areas outside the intended target areas exposing friendly personnel to the hazards of injury due to impaction by said sabots.
Additionally, in recent times, it has been known to provide an internal ball-actuated valve to replace the sabot such that a unitary projectile is formed. Such projectiles have the advantage of being able to be used by aircraft having airbreathing engines and to fire over friendly occupied territory. However, known fabrication techniques have used two part projectile bodies having an internal valve and require expensive fitting and testing in the fabrication, thereby raising the cost of these projectiles to make them unattractive for mass production as would be required for standard military arms.